WPVA STARTS 10TH SEASON WITH EARLIEST START AT EVIAN INDOORS
EL SEGUNDO, CALIF. - The Women's Professional Volleyball
Association opens its 10th-season of competition with its earliest
start ever with four teams participating in February at two Evian
Indoor Pro Beach Volleyball Championships and Winter Beach Fests.
The tandems of Holly McPeak/Nancy Reno, Liz Masakayan/Angela Rock,
Barbra Fontana Harris/Linda Hanley and Karolyn Kirby/Christine
Schaefer will compete in Evian Indoor events in Fairfax, Va., Feb.
3, and New York, N. Y., Feb. 24.
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Evian Indoor
Patriot Center, Feb. 3
Tickets priced at $29.50, $18.50 and $12.50 are available at the
Patriot Center Box Office and at any Ticketmaster outlet, including
Hecht's and Kemp Mill Music Stores. To order by telephone, dial
202/432-SEAT or 703/573-SEAT. For Wheelchair Accessible Seating,
telephone 703/993-3035. To obtain group discounts or to purchase
"Special Golden Spike" seating (on the sand), telephone 301/350-
1500.
Evian Indoor
Madison Square Garden, Feb. 24
Tickets priced at $30, $20, $16 and $12 are available at the Garden
Box Office (212/465-MSG1), Ticketmaster outlets and by telephone
charge (212/307-7171, 201/507-8900, 516/888-9000, 203/624-0033 or
914/454-3388). Limited VIP seating seating is available ($60 and
$50). Telephone 212/465-6080 for group packages and 212/465-6583
for VIP ticket package information and the Evian Indoor Hotline.
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The Evian Indoor purse for the two events totals $125,000 with
$50,000 for the Fairfax event at the Patriot Center on the campus
of George Mason University and $75,000 for the New York stop at
Madison Square Garden.
The events will mark the first-ever indoor events for the WPVA.
The two stops will also be held in conjunction with the Association
of Volleyball Professionals as four men's teams will also be
competing for $125,000 in prize money.
The earliest start ever for the WPVA was in Apr. 6-7, 1992 when the
association opened its season in Austin, Tex. Following the two
Evian Indoor stops, the four teams will move to Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, for the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship-Series
event Feb. 29-Mar. 3 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Although the 1996 schedule is not complete, event No. 3 on the
newly-sponsored Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour is
scheduled for the first weekend in April (6-7) in Deerfield Beach,
Fla.
Evian Natural Spring Water starts its second-season with the WPVA
and first as title sponsor after replacing Coors Light, which will
continue as the "official beer" after being the title sponsor for
four seasons.
Nancy Lengel, the WPVA's Executive Director, announced Evian's
sponsorship with the 10-year-old association last September after
being the "official" water on the 1995 Coors Light Women's Pro
Beach Volleyball Tour.
"We're extremely pleased that Evian has assumed the title
sponsorship of the WPVA tour," said Lengel, the association's chief
marketing representative. "We are excited that Coors Light will
continue as a tour sponsor as the brand starts its seventh-year of
with the WPVA."
The four WPVA teams for the Evian Indoor events were determined by
using the points from 10 scoring events on the 1995 Evian Women's
Pro Beach Volleyball Tour.
McPeak and Reno finished as the top team on the 1995 Evian Tour
with 680 combined points. Masakayan and Rock will be seeded second
in the Evian Indoor with 566.4 points.
The Evian Indoor will be the first domestic event for both the
Fontana Harris/Hanley (499.2 points) and Kirby/Schaefer (457.6
points) tandems.
McPeak and Reno won the last five Evian Tour events they entered in
1995 at Old Orchard Beach (July 9), Portland (Aug. 6), Long Beach
(Aug. 13), Huntington Beach (Aug. 20) and Kauai (Sept. 23)
The pair also won six-straight FIVB Beach Volleyball World
Championship-Series titles in Hermosa Beach, Calif. (July 16),
Korea (July 22), Japan (July 29), Portugal (Aug. 27), Indonesia
(Sept. 17) and Australia (Oct. 8).
McPeak and Reno switched partners for two November, 1995, FIVB
events where Reno won with Kirby in Puerto Rico and McPeak finished
second with Rock in Brazil.
For the final 1995-96 FIVB event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Feb.
29-Mar. 3, 1996), McPeak and Reno are expected to compete together.
Overall, McPeak and Reno shared $180,080 in 21 events together in
1995 with 14 firsts, five seconds and two thirds. The McPeak/Reno
tandem have won 89.7 percent of their matches in 1995 (122-14).
After finishing third in their first Evian Tour event in Florida
last April, McPeak and Reno posted eight firsts and five seconds in
the next 13 domestic events to earn their No. 1 domestic ranking.
McPeak and Reno have combined to win 74 of 84 matches on the Evian
Tour to share $115,080 in earnings in their first-season of
competition together.
Winners of six of the first seven FIVB Beach Volleyball World
Championship-Series events this season, Reno and McPeak currently
lead the 1995-96 international bonus pool standings.
The top player at the end of the FIVB competition in March at Rio
de Janeiro will earn $60,000 with the No. 2 player awarded $55,000
of the $500,000 bonus pool.
After placing third in their first FIVB event in Clearwater Beach,
Fla., last May, McPeak and Reno scored six straight international
wins by winning 38 of 40 matches.
Reno, who captured three Evian Light Tour and two FIVB event titles
with Kirby during the 1992-93 season, has won 27 pro crowns. A
Stanford graduate, Reno has earned $260,815.13 with 65 final four
finishes in 94 career starts.
McPeak, the 1991 Evian Tour rookie-of-the-year, has captured 30
event titles in her professional career. She has earned
$232,225.89 in 91 professional events with 56 final fours.
Masakayan returns to action after missing the final 1995 Evian Tour
event and the last four FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship-
Series events due to surgery after breaking her right kneecap.
Masakayan, who finished third in the national championships with
Rock in their only 1995 start together, has had two major surgeries
since Dec. 23, 1994 since initially injuring her right knee in
Brazil in November, 1994.
The No. 2 Evian Tour all-time money leader ($247,395.25 with 32
domestic titles), Masakayan played in only eight of 15 stops on the
1995 domestic tour and four of nine FIVB events.
The Evian Indoor stops will be the 13th domestic event together for
the Masakayan/Rock tandem as the pair has posted a 32-13 match mark
together.
Despite not playing together domestically, Fontana Harris and
Hanley have one FIVB event win together after defeating Rock and
McPeak last November to win the international event in Santos,
Brazil.
Fontana Harris and Hanley had to qualify for the Santos event by
winning two of three matches. In the main draw, the pair posted a
6-0 match mark to share the $10,000 first-place prize.
Kirby, the all-time money winner in the history of the women's
beach game ($491,224.13 with 61 career wins) will be teaming with
the youngest player in terms of events played at the Evian Indoor.
Schaefer is starting her fourth season on the beach while Kirby and
Rock are entering their 10th seasons on the Evian Tour, Hanley,
Masakayan and McPeak their ninths, Reno her seventh and Fontana
Harris her sixth.
Here are combined professional earnings and events wins for 176
events through Nov. 19, 1995 for both domestic (127 WPVA and 29
rival) and international (20 FIVB) play.
RANK PLAYER (Event wins). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
EARNINGS
1 Karolyn Kirby (55 domestic, six FIVB, 61 total). . . . . . . .$491,
224.13
2 Liz Masakayan (32, 3, 35). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329,
270.25
3 Angela Rock (26, 0, 26). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276,
346.00
4 Jackie Silva (46, 3, 49) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261,
183.50
5 Nancy Reno (18, 9, 27) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260,
815.13
6 Lori Forsythe (7, 1, 8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251,
474.88
7 Holly McPeak (24, 6, 30) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232,
225.89
8 Elaine Roque (3, 1, 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224,
717.21
9 Linda Chisholm (33, 0, 33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222,
387.75
10 Gail Castro (3, 1, 4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207,
243.63
11 Barb Fontana Harris (5, 2, 7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191,
408.77
12 Janice Harrer (12, 0, 12). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168,
470.25
13 Cammy Ciarelli (14, 0, 14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150,
355.25
14 Linda Hanley (8, 1, 9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138,
965.00
15 Deb Richardson (0, 0, 0) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130,
845.76
16 Patty Dodd (12, 0, 12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126,
274.88
-- Christine Schaefer (0, 0, 0). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33,
265.00
With one international event left (Feb. 29-Mar. 3, 1996) in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, a total of eight different teams have won events,
including five on the domestic circuit and four internationally.
Here's a breakdown:
Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1995-96
event wins
Holly McPeak/Nancy Reno. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 14
(Domestic at Austin, New Orleans, San Diego, Old Orchard, Portland, Long
Beach, Huntington Beach and Kauai and internationally at Hermosa Beach,
Korea, Japan, Portugal, Indonesia and Australia.)
Karolyn Kirby/Liz Masakayan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .3
(Domestic at Irving, Hermosa Beach and Newport.)
Linda Hanley/Angela Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .2
(Domestic at Puerto
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